Netflix has become the first customer of AMS-IX New York, the European internet exchange operator's recent foray into the US market.

The deal is a result of the emergence of Open IX, a non-profit industry organization built recently to create standards for internet exchange operators and data center operators that can host those exchanges. The organization's main goal is to dilute the control a few data center operators, including Equinix, Telx and Verizon Terremark, have of all key US internet exchanges.

No exchange or data center operator has been certified by Open IX, Josh Snowhorn, VP and general manager of interconnection at CyrusOne and a committee member at Open IX, said. The data center and exchange operators that have been involved with the organization have been making Open IX-related announcements, however, expecting they will eventually be endorsed since they know what the requirements are going to be.

Job Witteman, CEO of AMS-IX, said, “We are very pleased to have Netflix as the first customer of AMS-IX New York. One of the main reasons to broaden our scope to the US is to offer our US-based customers the value of a neutral and distributed internet exchange.”

The agreement follows Netflix’ connection to AMS-IX (Amsterdam Internet Exchange) in Amsterdam earlier this year.

David Temkin, director of network architecture and strategy and Netflix ans chair of the board of directors of the Open IX Association, said the video-streaming company had been one of the key drivers behind the Open IX initiative.

“With our connection to AMS-IX New York we can finally get benefit from the European Internet Exchange model in the US,” he said. “Moreover, our experience with AMS-IX in Amsterdam made it an easy choice to connect to AMS-IX New York as well.”

AMS-IX’s US subsidiary has recently made deals with Digital Realty Trust, DuPont Fabros Technology, Sabey Data Centers and 325 Hudson to build and operate an Open-IX-endorsed internet exchange within the wholesale data center providers' facilities in the New York-New Jersey region.

Depending on the market demand and the willingness of other data center providers to partner with AMS-IX, additional locations may be added, the exchange operator said. AMS-IX also plans to deploy exchanges in the Chicago and Silicon Valley markets, which are currently planned to go live in the first and second quarters of 2014, respectively.